Workflow functions of content management system enforced by client device

ABSTRACT

The disclosed technology addresses the need in the art for providing workflow controls to shared content items stored on client devices, and enforcing content item check outs or content item locks for shared content items stored and accessed on client devices. The present technology further includes automatically locking a shared content item that is edited on a client device so that other team members cannot modify the content item. Accordingly, the present technology improves upon existing systems that provide workflow controls such as file check-in and checkout functionality by permitting users to access content items directly from the file system of their client device, and by providing automatic checkout and check-in functionality.

BACKGROUND

Many content management systems provide a file check-in and checkoutfunctionality. This functionality is heavily used amongst teams thatshare access to certain files to avoid redundant work and conflictedcopies of files. While the feature is useful, use of this feature hastraditionally required extra steps in a user's workflow. For example,systems offering this feature typically require files to be stored on aserver where users can retrieve them. This can be viewed as aninconvenience especially in view of recent technologies that cansynchronize files amongst client devices and servers so that each devicehas an updated copy. Checking-in a file can be a further inconvenience,as this can require navigating to the server and affirmativelychecking-in in the file. Often times users forget to affirmativelycheck-in the file, which can impair the ability of others to work on thefile because the file remains locked out even after the user hascompleted their edits. In fact, current systems that offer check-in andcheck out functionality are inconvenient enough that some users workoutside of the content management system and only check files in whenthey are done with the project. Such behaviors eliminate benefits ofsharing files and working collaboratively. Accordingly there is a needto improve the user experience related to file check-in and checkoutfunctionality.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The above-recited and other advantages and features of the disclosurewill become apparent by reference to specific embodiments thereof whichare illustrated in the appended drawings. Understanding that thesedrawings depict only example embodiments of the disclosure and are nottherefore to be considered to be limiting of its scope, the principlesherein are described and explained with additional specificity anddetail through the use of the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 illustrates an example configuration of devices and a network inaccordance with some embodiments;

FIG. 2 illustrates an example configuration of devices and a network inaccordance with some workflow service embodiments;

FIG. 3 illustrates an example method for enabling the workflow servicein accordance with some embodiments;

FIG. 4A and FIG. 4B illustrate example administrator screens forinteracting with workflow service features in accordance with someembodiments;

FIG. 5 illustrates an example method for setting a workflow control on acontent item and synchronizing the workflow control amongst clientdevices and the content management system in accordance with someembodiments;

FIG. 6 illustrates an example user interface showing content items forwhich workflow controls have been enabled in accordance with someembodiments;

FIG. 7 illustrates an example method for enforcing workflow controls ona client device in accordance with some embodiments;

FIG. 8A and FIG. 8B illustrate example prompts regarding a checked outcontent item in accordance with some embodiments;

FIG. 9 illustrates an example method for automatically checking out acontent item in accordance with some embodiments;

FIG. 10A and FIG. 10B illustrate example prompts regarding a check outof a content item in accordance with some embodiments;

FIG. 11 illustrates an example method for automatically checking-in acontent item in accordance with some embodiments;

FIG. 12A and FIG. 12B illustrate example prompts regarding a check-in ofa content item in accordance with some embodiments;

FIG. 13 illustrates an example method for detecting a kernel level fileevent in accordance with some embodiments;

FIG. 14 illustrates an example method for adapting the presentation of acontent item in accordance with some embodiments; and

FIG. 15 illustrates an example possible system embodiment forimplementing various embodiments of the present technology in accordancewith some embodiments.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Various embodiments of the disclosure are discussed in detail below.While specific implementations are discussed, it should be understoodthat this is done for illustration purposes only. A person skilled inthe relevant art will recognize that other components and configurationsmay be used without parting from the spirit and scope of the disclosure.

The disclosed technology addresses the need in the art for providingworkflow controls for shared content items stored on client devices, andenforcing content item check outs or content item locks for sharedcontent items stored and accessed on client devices. The presenttechnology further includes automatically locking a shared content itemthat is edited on a client device so that other team members cannotmodify the file. Accordingly, the present technology improves uponexisting systems that provide workflow controls such as file check-inand checkout functionality by permitting users to access files directlyfrom the file system of their client device, and by providing automaticcheckout and check-in functionality.

In some embodiments the disclosed technology is deployed in the contextof a content management system having content item synchronizationcapabilities and collaboration features, among others. An example systemconfiguration 100 is shown in FIG. 1, which depicts content managementsystem 110 interacting with client device 150.

Accounts

Content management system 110 can store content items in associationwith accounts, as well as perform a variety of content item managementtasks, such as retrieve, modify, browse, and/or share the contentitem(s). Furthermore, content management system 110 can enable anaccount to access content item(s) from multiple client devices.

Content management system 110 supports a plurality of accounts. Anentity (user, group of users, company, etc.) can create an account withcontent management system, and account details can be stored in accountdatabase 140. Account database 140 can store profile information forregistered entities. In some cases, profile information for registeredentities includes a username and/or email address. Account database 140can include account management information, such as account type (e.g.various tiers of free or paid accounts), storage space allocated,storage space used, client devices 150 having a registered contentmanagement client application 152 resident thereon, security settings,personal configuration settings, etc.

Account database 140 can store groups of accounts associated with anentity. Groups can have permissions based on group policies and/oraccess control lists, and members of the groups can inherit thepermissions. For example, a marketing group can have access to one setof content items while an engineering group can have access to anotherset of content items. An administrator group can modify groups, modifyuser accounts, etc.

Content Item Storage

A feature of content management system 110 is the storage of contentitems, which can be stored in content storage 142. Content items can beany digital data such as documents, collaboration content items, textfiles, audio files, image files, video files, webpages, executablefiles, binary files, etc. A content item can also include collections orother mechanisms for grouping content items together with differentbehaviors, such as folders, zip files, playlists, albums, etc. Acollection can refer to a folder, or a plurality of content items thatare related or grouped by a common attribute. In some embodiments,content storage 142 is combined with other types of storage or databasesto handle specific functions. Content storage 142 can store contentitems, while metadata regarding the content items can be stored inmetadata database 146. Likewise, data regarding where a content item isstored in content storage 142 can be stored in content directory 144.Additionally, data regarding changes, access, etc. can be stored inserver file journal 148. Each of the various storages/databases such ascontent storage 142, content directory 144, server file journal 148, andmetadata database 146 can be comprised of more than one such storage ordatabase and can be distributed over many devices and locations. Otherconfigurations are also possible. For example, data from content storage142, content directory 144, server file journal 148, and/or metadatadatabase 146 may be combined into one or more content storages ordatabases or further segmented into additional content storages ordatabases. Thus, content management system 110 may include more or lessstorages and/or databases than shown in FIG. 1.

In some embodiments, content storage 142 is associated with at least onecontent management service 116, which includes software or otherprocessor executable instructions for managing the storage of contentitems including, but not limited to, receiving content items forstorage, preparing content items for storage, selecting a storagelocation for the content item, retrieving content items from storage,etc. In some embodiments, content management service 116 can divide acontent item into smaller chunks for storage at content storage 142. Thelocation of each chunk making up a content item can be recorded incontent directory 144. Content directory 144 can include a content entryfor each content item stored in content storage 142. The content entrycan be associated with a unique ID, which identifies a content item.

In some embodiments, the unique ID, which identifies a content item incontent directory 144, can be derived from a deterministic hashfunction. This method of deriving a unique ID for a content item canensure that content item duplicates are recognized as such since thedeterministic hash function will output the same identifier for everycopy of the same content item, but will output a different identifierfor a different content item. Using this methodology, content managementservice 116 can output a unique ID for each content item.

Content management service 116 can also designate or record a contentpath for a content item. The content path can include the name of thecontent item and/or folder hierarchy associated with the content item.For example, the content path can include a folder or path of folders inwhich the content item is stored in a local file system on a clientdevice. Content management service 116 can use the content path topresent the content items in the appropriate folder hierarchy, such as atree-like directory structure. While content items are stored in contentstorage 142 in blocks and may not be stored under a tree like directorystructure, such directory structure is a comfortable navigationstructure for users. Content management service 116 can define or recorda content path for a content item wherein the “root” node of a directorystructure can be a namespace for each account. Within the namespace canbe a directory structure defined by a user of an account and/or contentmanagement service 116. Content directory 144 can store the content pathfor each content item as part of a content entry.

In some embodiments the namespace can include additional namespaces thatappear in the directory structure as if they are stored within the rootnode. This can occur when an account has access to a shared collection.Shared collections can be assigned their own namespace within contentmanagement system 110. While shared collections are actually a root nodefor the shared collection, they are located subordinate to the useraccount namespace in the directory structure, and can appear as a folderwithin a folder for the user account. As addressed above, the directorystructure is merely a comfortable navigation structure for users, butdoes not correlate to storage locations of content items in contentstorage 142.

While the directory structure in which an account views content itemsdoes not correlate to storage locations at content management system110, the directory structure can correlate to storage locations onclient device 150 depending on the file system used by client device150.

As addressed above, a content entry in content directory 144 can alsoinclude the location of each chunk making up a content item. Morespecifically, the content entry can include content pointers thatidentify the location in content storage 142 of the chunks that make upthe content item.

In addition to a content path and content pointer, a content entry incontent directory 144 can also include a user account identifier thatidentifies the user account that has access to the content item and/or agroup identifier that identifies a group with access to the contentitem. In some embodiments, multiple user account identifiers can beassociated with a single content entry indicating that the content itemhas shared access by the multiple user accounts. In some embodiments,user account identifiers associated with a single content entry canspecify different permissions for the associated content item. In someembodiments, content directory 144 can describe a hierarchical structureof content items associated with a user account, the hierarchicalstructure being specific to the user account.

Content management service 116 can decrease the amount of storage spacerequired by identifying duplicate content items or duplicate blocks thatmake up a content item or versions of a content item. Instead of storingmultiple copies, content storage 142 can store a single copy of thecontent item or block of the content item and content directory 144 caninclude a pointer or other mechanism to link the duplicates to thesingle copy.

Content management service 116 can also store metadata describingcontent items, content item types, folders, file path, and/or therelationship of content items to various accounts, collections, orgroups in metadata database 146, in association with the unique ID ofthe content item.

Content management service 116 can also store a log of data regardingchanges, access, etc. in server file journal 148. Server file journal148 can include the unique ID of the content item and a description ofthe change or access action along with a time stamp or version numberand any other relevant data. Server file journal 148 can also includepointers to blocks affected by the change or content item access.Content management service can provide the ability to undo operations,by using a content item version control that tracks changes to contentitems, different versions of content items (including diverging versiontrees), and a change history that can be acquired from the server filejournal 148. The change history can include a set of changes that, whenapplied to the original content item version, produce the changedcontent item version.

Content Item Synchronization

Another feature of content management system 110 is synchronization ofcontent items with at least one client device 150. Client device(s) cantake different forms and have different capabilities. For example,client device 170 is a computing device having a local file systemaccessible by multiple applications resident thereon. Client device 172is a computing device wherein content items are only accessible to aspecific application or by permission given by the specific application,and the content items are stored either in an application specific spaceor in the cloud. Client device 174 is any client device accessingcontent management system 110 via a web browser and accessing contentitems via a web interface. While example client devices 170, 172, and174 are depicted in form factors such as a laptop, mobile device, or webbrowser, it should be understood that the descriptions thereof are notlimited to devices of these example form factors. For example a mobiledevice such as client 172 might have a local file system accessible bymultiple applications resident thereon, or client 172 might accesscontent management system 110 via a web browser. As such, the formfactor should not be considered limiting when considering client 150'scapabilities. One or more functions described herein with respect toclient device 150 may or may not be available on every client devicedepending on the specific capabilities of the device—the file accessmodel being one such capability.

In many embodiments, client devices are associated with an account ofcontent management system 110, but in some embodiments client devicescan access content using shared links and do not require an account.

As noted above, some client devices can access content management system110 using a web browser. However, client devices can also access contentmanagement system 110 using client application 152 stored and running onclient device 150. Client application 152 can include a content itemsynchronization service 156.

Content item synchronization service 156 can be in communication withcontent management service 116 to synchronize changes to content itemsbetween client device 150 and content management system 110.

Client device 150 can synchronize content with content management system110 via content synchronization service 156. The synchronization can beplatform agnostic. That is, content can be synchronized across multipleclient devices of varying type, capabilities, operating systems, etc.Content synchronization service 156 can synchronize any changes (new,deleted, modified, copied, or moved content items) to content items in adesignated location of a file system of client device 150.

Content items can be synchronized from client device 150 to contentmanagement system 110, and vice versa. In embodiments whereinsynchronization is from client device 150 to content management system110, a user can manipulate content items directly from the file systemof client device 150, while file system extension 153 (which can beintegrated with the local file system, or even the operating systemkernel) can intercept read, write, copy, move, delete commands relativeto content items in the designated location of the file system of clientdevice 150.

When file system extension 153 notices a write, move, copy, or deletecommand, it can notify content item synchronization service 156, whichcan synchronize the changes to content management system service 116. Insome embodiments, content item synchronization service 156 can performsome functions of content management system service 116 includingfunctions addressed above such as dividing the content item into blocks,hashing the content item to generate a unique identifier, etc. Contentsynchronization service 156 can index content within client storageindex 164 and save the result in storage index 164. Indexing can includecreating a unique identifier for each content item. In some embodiments,content synchronization service 156 creates this unique identifier byputting the data of the content item (e.g., excluding the filenameand/or other metadata) through a hash function; as addressed above,content management system can use a similar process to provideidentifiers to content on content management system 110. Contentsynchronization service 156 can use storage index 164 to facilitate thesynchronization of at least a portion of the content within clientstorage with content associated with a user account on contentmanagement system 110. For example, content synchronization service 156can compare storage index 164 with content management system 110 anddetect differences between content on client storage and contentassociated with a user account on content management system 110. Contentsynchronization service 156 can then attempt to reconcile differences byuploading, downloading, modifying, and deleting content on clientstorage as appropriate. Content management service 116 can store thechanged or new block for the content item and update server file journal148, metadata database 146, content directory 144, content storage 142,account database 140, etc. as appropriate.

When synchronizing from content management system 110 to client device150, a modification, addition, deletion, move of a content item recordedin server file journal 148 can trigger a notification to be sent toclient device 150 using notification service 116. When client device 150is informed of the change to server file journal 148, client device cancheck storage index 164 to determine if the time stamp of the changeoccurred since the last synchronization, or determine if the specificchange has been synchronized. When client device 150 determines that itis out of synchronization with content management system 110, contentitem synchronization service 156 requests content item blocks includingthe changes, and updates its local copy of the changed content items. Insome embodiments, notification service can query other services ordatabases of content management system 110 such as server file journal148 to gain more context for the notification, to determine if anotification can be batched with another notification or to supplement anotification

Sometimes client device 150 might not have a network connectionavailable. In this scenario, content item synchronization service 156can monitor the linked collection for content item changes and queuethose changes for later synchronization to content management system 110when a network connection is available. Similarly, a user can manuallystart, stop, pause, or resume synchronization with content managementsystem 110.

Content item synchronization service 156 can synchronize all contentassociated with a particular user account on content management system110. Alternatively, content item synchronization service 156 canselectively synchronize a portion of the content of the total contentassociated with the particular user account on content management system110. Selectively synchronizing only a portion of the content canpreserve space on client device 150 and save bandwidth.

In some embodiments, content item synchronization service 156selectively stores a portion of the content associated with theparticular user account and stores placeholder content items in clientstorage for the remainder portion of the content. For example, contentitem synchronization service 156 can store a placeholder content itemthat has the same filename, path, extension, metadata, of its respectivecomplete content item on content management system 110, but lacking thedata of the complete content item. The placeholder content item can be afew kilobytes or less in size while the respective complete content itemmight be significantly larger. After client device 150 attempts toaccess the content item, content item synchronization service 156 canretrieve the data of the content item from content management system 110and provide the complete content item to accessing client device 150.This approach can provide significant space and bandwidth savings whilestill providing full access to a user's content on content managementsystem 110.

Collaboration Features

Another feature of content management system 110 is to facilitatecollaboration between users. Collaboration features include content itemsharing, commenting on content items, co-working on content items,instant messaging, providing presence and seen state informationregarding content items, etc.

Sharing

Content management system 110 can manage sharing content via sharingservice 128. Sharing content by providing a link to the content caninclude making the content item accessible from any computing device innetwork communication with content management system 110. However, insome embodiments a link can be associated with access restrictionsenforced by content management system 110. Sharing content can alsoinclude linking content using sharing service 128 to share contentwithin content management system 110 with at least one additional useraccount (in addition to the original user account associated with thecontent item) so that each user account has access to the content item.The additional user account can gain access to the content by acceptingthe content, which will then be accessible through either web interfaceservice 124 or directly from within the directory structure associatedwith their account on client device 150. The sharing can be performed ina platform agnostic manner. That is, the content can be shared acrossmultiple client devices 150 of varying type, capabilities, operatingsystems, etc. The content can also be shared across varying types ofuser accounts.

To share a content item within content management system 110 sharingservice 128 can add a user account identifier to a content entry inaccess control list database 145 associated with the content item, thusgranting the added user account access to the content item. Sharingservice 128 can also remove user account identifiers from a contententry to restrict a user account's access to the content item. Sharingservice 128 can record content item identifiers, user accountidentifiers given access to a content item, and access levels in accesscontrol list database 145.

To share content items outside of content management system 110, sharingservice 128 can generate a custom network address, such as a uniformresource locator (URL), which allows any web browser to access thecontent item or collection in content management system 110 without anyauthentication. To accomplish this, sharing service 128 can includecontent identification data in the generated URL, which can later beused to properly identify and return the requested content item. Forexample, sharing service 128 can include the account identifier and thecontent path or a content item identifying code in the generated URL.Upon selection of the URL, the content identification data included inthe URL can be transmitted to content management system 110, which canuse the received content identification data to identify the appropriatecontent item and return the content item.

In addition to generating the URL, sharing service 128 can also beconfigured to record in access control list database 145 that a URL tothe content item has been created. In some embodiments, the contententry associated with a content item can include a URL flag indicatingwhether a URL to the content item has been created. For example, the URLflag can be a Boolean value initially set to 0 or false to indicate thata URL to the content item has not been created. Sharing service 128 canchange the value of the flag to 1 or true after generating a URL to thecontent item.

In some embodiments, sharing service 128 can associate a set ofpermissions to a URL for a content item. For example, if a user attemptsto access the content item via the URL, sharing service 128 can providea limited set of permissions for the content item. Examples of limitedpermissions include restrictions that the user cannot download thecontent item, save the content item, copy the content item, modify thecontent item, etc. In some embodiments, limited permissions includerestrictions that only permit a content item to be accessed from with aspecified domain, i.e., from within a corporate network domain, or byaccounts associated with a specified domain, e.g., accounts associatedwith a company account (e.g., @acme.com).

In some embodiments, sharing service 128 can also be configured todeactivate a generated URL. For example, each content entry can alsoinclude a URL active flag indicating whether the content should bereturned in response to a request from the generated URL. For example,sharing service 128 can only return a content item requested by agenerated link if the URL active flag is set to 1 or true. Thus, accessto a content item for which a URL has been generated can be easilyrestricted by changing the value of the URL active flag. This allows auser to restrict access to the shared content item without having tomove the content item or delete the generated URL. Likewise, sharingservice 128 can reactivate the URL by again changing the value of theURL active flag to 1 or true. A user can thus easily restore access tothe content item without the need to generate a new URL.

In some embodiments, content management system 110 can designate a URLfor uploading a content item. For example, a first user with a useraccount can request such a URL, provide the URL to a contributing userand the contributing user can upload a content item to the first user'suser account using the URL.

Presence and Seen State

In some embodiments, content management system can provide informationabout how users with which a content item is shared are interacting orhave interacted with the content item. In some embodiments, contentmanagement system 110 can report that a user with which a content itemis shared is currently viewing the content item. For example, clientcollaboration service 160 can notify notifications service 117 whenclient device 150 is accessing the content item. Notifications service117 can then notify all client devices of other users having access tothe same content item of the presence of the user of client device 150with respect to the content item.

In some embodiments, content management system 110 can report a historyof user interaction with a shared content item. Collaboration service126 can query data sources such as metadata database 146 and server filejournal 148 to determine that a user has saved the content item, that auser has yet to view the content item, etc., and disseminate this statusinformation using notification service 117 to other users so that theycan know who currently is or has viewed or modified the content item.

Collaboration service 126 can facilitate comments associated withcontent, even if a content item does not natively support commentingfunctionality. Such comments can be stored in metadata database 146.

Collaboration service 126 can originate and transmit notifications forusers. For example, a user can mention another user in a comment andcollaboration service 126 can send a notification to that user that hehas been mentioned in the comment. Various other content item events cantrigger notifications, including deleting a content item, sharing acontent item, etc.

Collaboration service 126 can provide a messaging platform whereby userscan send and receive instant messages, voice calls, emails, etc.

Collaboration Content Items

Collaboration service 126 can also provide an interactive content itemcollaboration platform whereby users can simultaneously createcollaboration content items, comment in the collaboration content items,and manage tasks within the collaboration content items. Collaborationcontent items can be files that users can create and edit using acollaboration content item editor, and can contain collaboration contentitem elements. Collaboration content item elements may include acollaboration content item identifier, one or more author identifiers,collaboration content item text, collaboration content item attributes,interaction information, comments, sharing users, etc. Collaborationcontent item elements can be stored as database entities, which allowsfor searching and retrieving the collaboration content items. Multipleusers may access, view, edit, and collaborate on collaboration contentitems at the same time or at different times. In some embodiments thiscan be managed by requiring two users access a content item through aweb interface and there they can work on the same copy of the contentitem at the same time.

Collaboration Companion Interface

In some embodiments client collaboration service 160 can provide anative application companion interface for the purpose of displayinginformation relevant to a content item being presented on client device150. In embodiments wherein a content item is accessed by a nativeapplication stored and executed on client device 150, where the contentitem is in a designated location of the file system of client device 150such that the content item is managed by content application 152, thenative application may not provide any native way to display the aboveaddressed collaboration data. In such embodiments, client collaborationservice 160 can detect that a user has opened a content item, and canprovide an overlay with additional information for the content item,such as collaboration data. For example, the additional information caninclude comments for the content item, status of the content item,activity of other users previously or currently viewing the contentitem. Such an overlay can warn a user that changes might be lost becauseanother user is currently editing the content item.

In some embodiments, one or more of the services or storages/databasesdiscussed above can be accessed using public or private applicationprogramming interfaces.

Certain software applications can access content storage 142 via an APIon behalf of a user. For example, a software package such as anapplication running on client device 150, can programmatically make APIcalls directly to content management system 110 when a user providesauthentication credentials, to read, write, create, delete, share, orotherwise manipulate content.

A user can view or manipulate content stored in a user account via a webinterface generated and served by web interface service 124. Forexample, the user can navigate in a web browser to a web addressprovided by content management system 110. Changes or updates to contentin the content storage 142 made through the web interface, such asuploading a new version of a content item, can be propagated back toother client devices associated with the user's account. For example,multiple client devices, each with their own client software, can beassociated with a single account and content items in the account can besynchronized between each of the multiple client devices.

Client device 150 can connect to content management system 110 on behalfof a user. A user can directly interact with client device 150, forexample when client device 150 is a desktop or laptop computer, phone,television, internet-of-things device, etc. Alternatively oradditionally, client device 150 can act on behalf of the user withoutthe user having physical access to client device 150, for example whenclient device 150 is a server.

Some features of client device 150 are enabled by an applicationinstalled on client device 150. In some embodiments, the application caninclude a content management system specific component. For example, thecontent management system specific component can be a stand-aloneapplication 152, one or more application plug-ins, and/or a browserextension. However, the user can also interact with content managementsystem 110 via a third-party application, such as a web browser, thatresides on client device 150 and is configured to communicate withcontent management system 110. In various implementations, theclient-side application 152 can present a user interface (UI) for a userto interact with content management system 110. For example, the usercan interact with the content management system 110 via file systemextension 153 integrated with the file system or via a webpage displayedusing a web browser application.

In some embodiments, client application 152 can be configured to manageand synchronize content for more than one account of content managementsystem 110. In such embodiments client application 152 can remain loggedinto multiple accounts and provide normal services for the multipleaccounts. In some embodiments, each account can appear as folder in afile system, and all content items within that folder can besynchronized with content management system 110. In some embodiments,client application 152 can include a selector to choose one of themultiple accounts to be the primary account or default account.

While content management system 110 is presented with specificcomponents, it should be understood by one skilled in the art, that thearchitectural configuration of system 100 is simply one possibleconfiguration and that other configurations with more or fewercomponents are possible. Further, a service can have more or lessfunctionality, even including functionality described as being withanother service. Moreover, features described herein with respect to anembodiment can be combined with features described with respect toanother embodiment.

While system 100 is presented with specific components, it should beunderstood by one skilled in the art, that the architecturalconfiguration of system 100 is simply one possible configuration andthat other configurations with more or fewer components are possible.

In some embodiments system 100 is useful for carrying out the presenttechnology. Specifically the present technology pertains to providingworkflow controls to shared content items stored on client devices, andenforcing content item check outs or content item locks for sharedcontent items stored and accessed on client devices. The presenttechnology further includes automatically locking a shared content itemthat is edited on a client device so that other team members cannotmodify the content item. Accordingly, the present technology improvesupon existing systems that provide workflow controls such as contentitem check-in and checkout functionality by permitting users to accesscontent items directly from the file system of their client device, andby providing automatic checkout and check-in functionality, whicheliminates extraneous steps from a user's workflow and makes compliancewith storage and workflow policies more likely.

FIG. 2 illustrates an additional view of system 100 that illustratessome additional components useful in providing the workflow controls ofthe present technology. Specifically FIG. 2 illustrates workflow service130 on content management system 110. As will be explained in greaterdetail below workflow service 130 provides a plurality of workflowfunctions to content management system 110 and interacts with serverfile journal 148 and metadata database 146 to record workflow statusesof individual content items.

Admin control service 132 provides functionality to an administrator toenable or disable workflow controls for content items. As will beaddressed in greater detail below, client device 150 can make use ofthese workflow controls through content item synchronization service156. Additionally users can make use of these workflow controls throughinteractions using web browser 166 and third-party application 180 whichcan interact with workflow service 130 via application programminginterfaces (API).

FIG. 3 illustrates an example method for an administrator to enableworkflow service 130 for shared content items. In some embodiments anadministrator can be authorized to manage accounts and settings of ateam(s), user accounts associated the team, and collections and contentitems accessible by the team. In some embodiments an administrator cansimply be a user that has shared at least one content item.

The method illustrated in FIG. 3 begins when an administrator of sharedcontent items enables (202) workflow service 130 for a collection ofcontent items. This can be performed through an administrator userinterface such as window 225 illustrated in FIG. 4A. FIG. 4A illustratesa shared collection of content items for which the administrator hasselected option 227 to enable workflow service 130 for the collection ofcontent items. In some embodiments, the administrator can require thatany content item that is opened or edited in the collection must bechecked out using option 229.

When an administrator of shared content items enables (202) workflowservice 130 for a collection of content items, workflow service 130 cannote the collection of content items as being subscribed to the workflowservice in metadata database 146. Upon synchronization by content itemsynchronization service 156, client device 150 receives informationregarding the collection of content items now subscribed to workflowservice 130, and client device 150 can add (204) workflow functions tothe collection of content items. As part of adding (204) workflowfunctions to the collection of content items, client device 150 can alsoenable (206) a workflow contextual menu to pertinent collections andcontent items. In some embodiments the contextual menu is available by“right clicking” on an icon representing a collection or a content item.

In some embodiments the collection of content items to which workflowfunctions are added is only a subset of the content items or collectionsto which a user account logged into client device 150 has access.

In addition to enabling and disabling workflow service 130 for acollection of content items, an administrator can also manage a workflowstatus of individual content items. For example FIG. 4B illustrates anadministrator interface 230 for a collection or sub-collection ofcontent items enrolled in workflow service 130. Content item “strategyreview” has a status of checked out 232, which can be managed by theadministrator using controls to the right of administrator interface230. For example one such control is to force check-in 234 of a selectedcontent item.

FIG. 5 illustrates enabling workflow controls by a user account forcontent items or collections, and further illustrates how workflowcontrols are propagated to client device(s) 150. In FIG. 5 certain stepsare illustrated in dashed lines. These steps may or may not take placedepending on the specific interactions between a user account andcontent management system 110.

The method illustrated in FIG. 5 begins when a workflow control is setby a user account for a content item or collection. Workflow controlscan include a content item “lock” (a user account puts a lock on acontent item while the content item is currently open by user account;the content item is read-only to all other user accounts), a contentitem “checkout” (user account puts a lock on a content item for aduration of time; the content item is read-only to all other useraccounts for the duration), a content item “approval” (a workflow isestablished and tracked for a content item that requires a specifieduser account to review the content item; the content item becomesread-only for all user accounts other than the specific named useraccount after the content item has been marked completed); “must review”a content item (a workflow is established and tracked for a content itemthat requires specific user accounts or a specified number of useraccounts on a team to review the content item; the content item isread-write for the entire team, at least until the requisite number ofreviews has been achieved). Throughout this description any workflowcontrol that results in making a content item read-only to at least oneuser may be referred to as a content item check out or a locked contentitem for simplicity of explanation, however, as noted above there can besome distinctions between a file lock, check out, approval, must review,etc.

A user account can set a workflow control (302) by interacting with acontent item on a client device running client application 152. As willbe addressed further below, the workflow control can be setautomatically or manually using client device 150. The user account canalso set a workflow control (304) by providing an input using webbrowser 166 to interact with web interface service 124 of contentmanagement system 110.

Once the user account has set the workflow control for the content itemor collection, the workflow control can be communicated to server filejournal 148 to add an entry (306) for the content item or collectionwith the workflow control. Content management system 110 can issue (308)a synchronized notification to client device(s) 150. Content itemsynchronization service 156 can receive (310) synchronization data fromcontent management system server 110 indicating the workflow control forthe content item(s) or collection(s).

This synchronization process can occur the same as for any othersynchronization as described above wherein a change to a content item orcollection on any client device or a change to a content item orcollection made through interacting with a content item using webinterface service 124 of content management system 110, can besynchronized amongst content management system 110 and all other deviceshaving a user account logged-in to content management system 110 on thedevice that has access to the content item. In the case of synchronizingworkflow controls, metadata for the content items are synchronized. Insome embodiments, this metadata consists of attributes which label thecontent item as locked and by which owner(s), e.g., {locked_user_ID}. Insome embodiments, other attributes can also be included for otherworkflow controls (e.g., must review, etc.). In some embodiments, theattributes can also include additional metadata regarding the workflowcontrol such as a timestamp when the control was put into effect, and aduration. However, in some embodiments, such additional data can bestored in metadata database 146 and retrieved by client device 150 ondemand.

Since the workflow control metadata for any content item is the sameregardless of which user account is receiving the synchronization data,each client device 150 needs to determine appropriate access rights foreach respective user account. For example each client device 150determines (312) if the user ID in the metadata pertaining to theworkflow control matches the user ID of the user account logged-in onthe respective client device 150, and changes (314) access properties tothe content item in the file system of the respective client device 150.Using the example of a content item lock the synchronization data caninclude the metadata: {locked_user_ID}. Client device 150 will determineif the user account logged into client device 150 matches the user ID inthe metadata, and if it does, will mark (316) the content item as lockedby the user on client device 150, but will set the access permissions tothe content item as read-write, since the user account logged-in onclient device 150 is the user account that has locked the content itemfrom being edited by other user accounts. If alternatively, clientdevice 150 determines that the user account logged-in on client device150 is different than the user account specified in the synchronizedmetadata, client device 150 will mark (316) the content item as lockedby another and set access permissions to read only for the content itemin the file system of client device 150. Importantly the accesspermissions can be set within the operating system of client device 150so that the access permissions will be enforced locally by the filesystem on client device 150. This provides important benefits: contentitems can be available even when client device 150 is not connected tocontent management system 110, and even if client device 150 isoff-line, client device 150 file system will enforce the user accountsrights to the content item.

FIG. 6 illustrates example badges that can be placed on icons reflectingworkflow controls applied to content items such as described withrespect to step 316. In FIG. 6 icon 352 reflects that a user accountother than a user account logged-in on that client device has checkedout the content item. Accordingly the content item marked with icon 352is available with read-only access. The content item marked with icon356 reflects that the user account logged-in on the client device is thesame user account that has checked out the content item, and accordinglythe content item is available with read-write access privileges.

FIG. 6 additionally illustrates an example update to a contextual menuto reflect a workflow status of a content item. For example in FIG. 6menu item 360 indicates that the content item has been checked out.Selecting menu item 360 can open one or more interfaces pertaining tothe present workflow status of the content item. For example, clientdevice 150 can display information regarding the user account that haschecked out a content item, a duration of time the content item ischecked out for, provide controls to check-in a content item, etc.Examples of such information displays are illustrated in FIG. 8A, FIG.10B, and FIG. 12B.

FIG. 7 illustrates an example method for enforcing content item accessrights on client device 150. A limitation of known content managementsystems providing at least check-in and check out functionalities isthat such systems enforce content item locks at the server only. Thus,in these systems content item locks are only enforced when a userattempts to access or save a content item, which requires the user toaccess the server for all such events. However, it is preferable tousers to be able to access content items that are stored on clientdevice 150 directly from the file system of client device 150, and assuch, the present technology must enforce the workflow controls ofcontent management system 110 on client device 150. As described above,one mechanism for enforcing workflow controls of content managementsystem 110 on client device 150 is to change the access rights of thecontent items directly in the operating system of client device 150. Inthis regard when a user account attempts to access a content item thatis read only on client device 150 operating system of client device 150can operate as it would for any content item stored on client device 150that is read only.

However as illustrated in FIG. 7, it is additionally desirable forclient application 152 to be notified that the user account hasattempted (402) to access a content item locked on client device 150 dueto synchronization with content management system 110. Depending on theconfiguration of client device 150 and client applications 152 there areat least three options for client applications 152 to learn that theuser account has attempted to access a locked content item. The firstoption can take place when client application 152 includes file systemextension 153, which can detect or intercept operating system kernellevel file events and can notify client application 152 of such events.In client devices 150 configured with file system extension 153, akernel level event of an attempted content item open can be detected(404). However not all systems may permit file system extension 153software and therefore in such systems where file system extension 153is not permitted or not practical FIG. 7 illustrates two additionalmethods for client application 152 to learn of a content item openrequest. A second option is to utilize a user interface watcher. Suchtools may require adjustments to accessibility options of an operatingsystem that can be permitted by a user of client device 150. A UIwatcher tool can detect windows or applications open on client device150 and content item names and paths for those content items that areopen in the applications. Such a UI watcher application can beconfigured to detect and report (406) that a content item undermanagement of client application 152 is opened. A third option is toutilize a plug-in for commonly used applications to report that acontent item under the management of client application 152 is open. Forexample applications in the productivity suites offered by MICROSOFTCORP (Microsoft Office) and APPLE INC (Apple iWork) and other commonlyused applications can be configured with plug-ins provided by contentmanagement system 110. These plug-ins can report (408) whenever acontent item under management of client application 152 is open. While aUI watcher or a plug-in both have the limitation that client application152 can only learn about a content item open request after the contentitem has been opened, this does not present a risk that a content itemthat should not be edited will be edited since the default file systemof client device 150 will still enforce the read-only access rights ofthe content item.

Upon learning that the user account has requested to open a lockedcontent item on client device 150, client application 152 can display(410) a read only prompt 420 with additional information regarding thestatus of the content item. An example of prompt 420 is illustrated inFIG. 8A. Client application 152 can communicate with metadata database146 to retrieve additional information about the workflow status of thelocked content item and can populate prompt 420 that includesinformation 422 including that the content item was checked out by aspecific user (Alice), whether there is a duration of the checkout(there are three hours remaining), and any other message that might havebeen provided by the user account that has checked out the content item.Prompt 420 can also provide selectable options that allow the useraccount to make a copy of the content item that can be edited, view thecontent item in a web view, message the user account that checked outthe content item, receive a notification when the content item ischecked back in (see FIG. 8B), comment on the content item, and view ahistory of revisions and workflow controls applied to the content item.FIG. 8B illustrates interface 430 that can be displayed when the useraccount wishes to receive a notification that the content item has beenchecked-in. Interface 430 includes an option to set a duration withinwhich they would like the notification to apply.

In addition to the safeguards addressed above wherein client application152 can change access properties for a content item in the local filesystem of client device 152 for a user account that has not checked outthe content item, the present technology also provides server safeguardsas well. Since it may be possible for a user of client device 150 tomanually modify access properties of a content item from read-only toread/write, it is possible that a user might undo the file system locksset by client application 152. In such embodiments, a user could editthe content item and save the changes to the local file system. Asaddressed above, when a content item is modified on the client device,client application 152 typically synchronizes the changes made to thelocal copy of the content item with the version of the content item atcontent management system 110.

In some embodiments, client application 152 can recognize that thecontent item bearing changes is a locked file, or content managementsystem 110 can determine that the content item is checked out by adifferent user account. When it is determined that a locked content itemis attempting to by synchronized, client application 152 will eitherdecline to synchronize the content item, or content management system110 will not accept the new version of the content item. Additionally,content management system 110 can create a new content item thatcontains the changes and save that the new content item to contentmanagement system 110 and synchronize the new content item to clientdevice 150. Additionally, content management system 110 can synchronizethe locked content item back to client device 150 and set the contentitem as read only in the local file system of client device 150.

In this way, the read-only or locked status of the content item ispreserved. All users end up with the same version of the content item,and any changes that were attempted by the user that bypassed theread-only properties are also preserved, but in a copy of the contentitem.

FIG. 9 illustrates an example method of a check out of a content item bya user account. In FIG. 9 certain optional steps are illustrated indashed lines. In some embodiments the present technology permits a useraccount to automatically check out a content item by opening (502) thecontent item from the native file system of client device 150. Just asin FIG. 7 regarding opening a content item that has already been checkedout, in FIG. 9 client application 152 can learn that a content item hasbeen opened (or requested to be opened) through several differentmethods. In a first option client application 152 can learn from filesystem extension 153 that the user account has requested the contentitem to be opened. File system extension 153 can detect (506) anoperating system kernel level event requesting to open the content item.In some embodiments, file system extension 153 can detect (512) that theuser account is attempting to save a change to the content item. Aftereither detecting the content item open event (506), or the content itemsave event (512), client application 152 can notify workflow service 130to set a content item lock (514). Just as in FIG. 7, client application152 can also learn that a content item has been opened by using a UIwatcher service (508) or a plug-in (510). When using the plug-in option,the plug-in can detect an edit (512) of the content item, which canoptionally be the trigger to notify (514) workflow service 130 to setthe content item lock.

In addition to the automatic content item locking addressed above, thepresent technology also allows for manual locking (504) of contentitems. In such embodiments a user account may interact with a contentitem either on client device 150 or through interaction with contentmanagement system 110 to select a menu option to check out the contentitem. For example FIG. 10A illustrates an example contextual menu withoption 530 to check out the content item “strategy review.pdf.” WhileFIG. 10A illustrates a user interface on example client device 150, asimilar menu can be provided when interacting with content managementsystem 110 using web browser 166 in communication with web interfaceservice 124.

After the user account has manually checked out (504) the content item,client device 150 or web interface service 124 can notify (514) workflowservice 130 to set a content item lock.

In some embodiments, when client application 152 determines that acontent item that has been enrolled in workflow service 130 has beenopened, client application 152 can provide prompt 532 as illustrated inFIG. 10B that informs the user account that the content item requires acheckout and can provide an option for the user account to check out thecontent item for a period of time and can provide an option to leave amessage for other user accounts that have access to the shared contentitem. Any additional information provided through prompt 532 can also besent to workflow service 130.

Workflow service 130 can record that the content item has been lockedand the user account applying the lock in server file journal 148, andcan also record this information along with additional information suchas a checkout period or a comment associated with the content item checkout in metadata database 146. Thereafter, content management system 110can work with content item synchronization service 150 to sink (518)metadata pertaining to the workflow changes for the content item toclient device 150.

FIG. 11 illustrates an example method for checking-in a content item. Amajor drawback of known content management systems providing check-inand checkout functionality is that such systems do not provide automaticcheck-in functionality when a content item is saved locally to a clientdevice. In some instances, some known content management systems mightnot even automatically check-in a content item when the content item isclosed and saved directly to a content management system server. Thislimitation of known content management systems leads to the undesirableresult that often a user has finished working with a content item butthe content item remains locked to all other team members.

The present technology can avoid these shortcomings through severaloptions. First, in some embodiments, client application 152 candetermine that a content item has been closed and can automaticallyinstruct workflow service 130 to remove the lock on the content item. Insome embodiments, a content item can be checked out for a definedduration of time such that content item locks can automatically expire.

Just as with respect to FIG. 7 and FIG. 9, FIG. 11 can utilizealternative methods for determining a content item has been closed. Themethod begins when a user account closes (602) a content item on clientdevice 150. Client application 152 can learn that the content item hasbeen closed through detecting a kernel level event (606), throughreceiving a report from a UI watcher tool (608), or by receiving areport from a plug-in to application (610) that was being used to editthe content item. Each of these options work as described above.

When client application 152 learns that the content item has been closedit can automatically determine that the content item should bechecked-in (612). In some embodiments, client application can include acollection of rules to determine when it is appropriate to automaticallycheck-in a content item. For example, if a timer for a check out has notexpired at the time content item is closed, client application 152 candetermine to not take any action because the checkout period has notexpired. Alternatively if the checkout period has expired, or there wasno check out period set but the content item was closed, clientapplication 152 can determine that the content item should bechecked-in. In some embodiments after determining that it is appropriatefor content item to be checked-in, client application 152 can wait for adetermined period of time to ensure that the content item close was notunintentional.

In some embodiments, client application 152 can be endowed with amachine learned function that has been trained on a data set of userdeclared content item check-ins, and client application 152 can applythe machine learned function to determine whether a content item shouldbe automatically checked-in.

When a client application 152 automatically determines that the contentitem is ready to be checked-in, client application 152 can notify (614)workflow service 130 of content item check-in. Workflow service 130 canthen record (616) the check-in in server file journal 148, and metadatadatabase 146.

In some embodiments when client application 152 determines that thecontent item should be checked-in, client application 152 can presentprompt 630 as illustrated in FIG. 12A to confirm that the content itemshould be checked-in. For example, prompt 630 can ask the user accountif the content item should be checked back in, and provide selectableoptions to check the content item back in or keep the content itemchecked out.

In addition to client application 152 automatically determining that thecontent item should be checked back in, the user account can alsomanually check-in content items through interaction with a menu. FIG.12B illustrates a contextual menu with a check-in option 632. While FIG.12B illustrates a menu presented on client device 150, a similar menucould be presented on web browser 166 through web interface service 124.When a client device 150 or web interface service 124 receives (604) themanual check-in option the respective device can notify (614) workflowservice 130 of content item check-in. Workflow service 130 can thenrecord (616) the check-in in server file journal 148, and metadatadatabase 146.

While the present technology has primarily been discussed in terms of auser account interacting with a content item through client device 150having client application 152 installed thereon, or through the useraccount interacting with a content item through web interface service124, the present technology can also be utilized by third partyapplications 180. Such applications can check-in and check out contentitems using workflow service 130 by interacting with workflow service130 via application programming interfaces (API). For example someprojects utilize a specialized application for managing a particularproject. The project may include multiple content items and a teamworking on these content items. In this example, the specializedapplication can communicate with workflow service 130 via APIs to checkout and check-in individual content items involved with the particularproject.

As illustrated in FIG. 5, FIG. 7, FIG. 9, and FIG. 11, in someembodiments the present technology can make use of a file systemextension 153 to inform client application 152 of events taking placewith content items under its management in order to automatically checkout or check-in a content item, or to provide a prompt to the useraccount of device 150. FIG. 13 and FIG. 14 illustrate example methods inadditional detail regarding possible operations using file systemextension 153.

FIG. 13 shows an example method 700 for detecting a kernel level fileevent for a content item according to various embodiments. A systemperforming example method 700 (e.g., client device 150) can begin anddetect a kernel level file event for a content item (702). A contentmanagement system client application can have file system extension 153for an operating system on client device 150 to perform at least some ofexample method 700.

As used herein, the “kernel” is a central part of an operating systemthat manages tasks that interface with hardware. It should be understoodthat “hardware” can mean physical hardware, simulated hardware (e.g.,within a virtual machine, a network resource, a partition of a drive,buffer, RAM, etc.), or any system that has similar functionality of ahardware component. Similarly, a “kernel level file event” can be anyevent dealing with the content item or collection, or resource at ahardware (or similar) level. For example, loading a content item (e.g.,opening or accessing the content item), saving a content item, modifyinga content item or collection, accessing content item or collectionproperties, modifying content item or collection properties, moving acontent item or collection, duplicating a content item or collection,defragmenting a content item or collection, etc. It should be understoodthat a kernel level file event can be an attempt at making any one ofthe foregoing, even if it is not accomplished (e.g., attempting toaccess a content item or collection that no longer exists, attempting toopen a content item without sufficient permissions, etc.). The kernellevel file event can be detected using file system extension 153 ofclient device 150 that is installed in the kernel of the operatingsystem of client device 150.

In some embodiments, the kernel level file event can directly triggerstep 702; alternatively, the system can monitor kernel level file events(e.g., by referencing a log) and begin step 702 when such an event isdetected in the log. In some embodiments, step 702 pauses or otherwiseinterrupts the default operating system action for the kernel level fileevent (e.g., if a program instructs the operating system to open acontent item, step 702 would pause or at least temporarily prevent theopening of the content item), alternatively, default behavior for thekernel level file event can run in parallel with example method 700. Thekernel level file event can be triggered by a graphical user interfaceto a local file system (e.g., a file browser). In some embodiments, thekernel level file event is triggered by an interface (e.g., anapplication programming interface) to the local file system.

The system can continue and retrieve a file event instruction for thecontent item (step 704). A file event instruction can be any type ofinstruction, including instructions associated with the content item.For example, the instruction can include displaying a graphical userinterface prompt, delaying the kernel level file event, sending amessage about the content item (e.g., to content management system 110,another client device 150, a service on client device 150, a useraccount associated with the content item, etc.), decrypting/encryptingthe content item, displaying a warning about the content item, modifyingthe content item, scanning the content item, duplicating the contentitem, retrieving collaboration information about the content item,retrieving a complete version of the content item (e.g., if the fileevent corresponds to a content item stub), etc.

The file event instruction can be retrieved from content managementsystem 110 and/or client device 150. For example, the file eventinstruction can be stored on content management system 110 and retrievedby client device 150. The file event instruction can be retrieved frommetadata associated with or located within the content item. In someembodiments, the metadata contains an address or pointer identifying alocation of the file event instruction. In some embodiments, a generalinstruction (e.g., to open a collaboration screen before opening thecontent item) can apply to multiple content items and the implementationof the general instruction can be specific to the content item based oncharacteristics (e.g., content item type, tags, permissions, metadata,etc.) of the content item. This can be accomplished, for example, byusing a content item identifier to adapt a general file eventinstruction to be specific to the content item.

The system can then perform the file event instruction (step 706).Various embodiments are herein disclosed for example sub-methods forstep 706. In some embodiments, client device 150 can send a report ofany one of step 702, 704, and/or 706 to content management system 110.

An example instruction of step 706 can include an instruction forhandling or presenting the content item in cooperation with contentmanagement system 110. For example, content management system 110 cansend client device 150 an access instruction (e.g., to open the contentitem in a read only, full access, or limited access mode) and anapplication that opens the content item can open the content itemaccording to the access instruction.

FIG. 14 depicts an example method 750 according to various embodiments.Example method 750 can be a sub-method or alternative to step 706 foradapting the presentation of the content item based on an access statefor the content item. For example, if a user of another client device150 is currently accessing the content item, the content item might be“locked” with regards to the user that is attempting to access thecontent item (i.e., that triggered example method 750) and prevent thatuser from modifying the content item.

Client device 150 can begin and request the content item access statefrom content management system 110 (step 752). Access state can includean indication that the content item is currently opened by, beingmodified by, or reserved by a user (e.g., a user account). Access statecan include an indication of a user or users that are attributable tothe access state. For example that user X is currently viewing thecontent item.

Content management system 110 can then determine the content item accessstate by determining if another user is currently accessing the contentitem on another device (step 754). The “another device” in step 754 canbe another client device 150. In some embodiments, step 754 includesreading an access log on content management system 110. Step 754 caninclude querying any client device 150 that might be accessing thecontent item. Content management system 110 can then send the contentitem access state to client device (step 755).

If the access state (step 756) is “full access” or similar, clientdevice 150 can then open the content item in a full access mode (step760). For example, the content item can be assigned read and writepermissions. If the access state (step 756) is “read only” or similar,client device 150 can then open the content item in a read-only mode(step 758). For example, the content item can be opened without theability to save over the content item. It should be understood thatother access states are contemplated. For example, a “check out” accessstate may require a user to return the content item within a certainamount of time.

In some embodiments, content management system 110 can use examplemethod 750 to determine a content item access restriction for thecontent item. For example, steps 754 and 755 can include determining acontent item access restriction for the content item. This can includecomparing the content item, the requesting user (e.g., a user accountassociated with client device 150), client device details (e.g., anidentifier for client device 150), a device type of client device 150(e.g., phone, tablet, or laptop), and/or a location of client device 150(e.g., geo-location, IP address, or subnet) with an access control listfor the content item. The content item access restriction canadditionally or alternatively be determined by referring to the currentactivity states of other users currently associated with the contentitem (e.g., if they have the content item open, if they have unsavedchanges to the content item, etc.). Content management system 110 canthen determine a content item access restriction for the request. Clientdevice 150 can enforce the content item access restriction. The contentitem access restriction can include indicating that the content itemshould have read-only, full, time-limited, or otherwise limited accesspermissions. In some embodiments, the content item access restrictionlimits the ability for the content item to saved or synchronized withcontent management system 110 (e.g., if another user account iscurrently accessing the content item). In some embodiments, the contentitem access restriction applies to a portion of the content item (e.g.,a sentence, paragraph, page, row, column, cell, section, etc.). In someembodiments, client device 150 does not enforce the content item accessrestriction, but merely presents a notification indicating the contentitem access restriction.

In some embodiments, the “local” version is a stub content item whilethe “alternate” version is the complete content item. The term “stub”can refer to a placeholder that appears to be the complete content itemwithin a file browser but the actual content item is located elsewhere.For example, the stub can be a content item with the same name,extension, metadata, etc. even though the stub lacks much of the content(i.e., the substance) of the content item. The stub can appear within afile interface of client device 150 to be the complete version of thecontent item. Client device 150 can detect a kernel level event for thestub content item and request the complete content item from contentmanagement system 110. Content management system 110 can then providethe complete content item to client device 150 for presentation. Forexample, the complete version can replace the stub in the file system.Alternatively or additionally, the complete version can be saved in atemporary location and the kernel level file event can be modified topoint to the complete version (e.g., by changing the path for thecontent item). An application for presenting (including opening orloading) the content item can open the full version despite the stubbeing originally identified. When presentation of the content item isconcluded (e.g., when the associated application closes the content itemor saves the content item), client device 150 can update the stubcontent item and, if necessary, send an updated version of the completecontent item to content management system 110.

FIG. 15 shows an example of computing system 800. Computing system 800can be for example a computing system of client device 150, or contentmanagement system 110. While these devices have some components incommon, such as those illustrated in computing system 500, it should beappreciated that each of payment client device 150, or contentmanagement system 110 are specialized devices configured for theirspecific purposes.

In computing system 800 the components of the system are incommunication with each other using connection 805. Connection 805 canbe a physical connection via a bus, or a direct connection intoprocessor 810, such as in a chipset architecture. Connection 805 canalso be a virtual connection, networked connection, or logicalconnection.

In some embodiments computing system 800 is a distributed system inwhich the functions described in this disclosure can be distributedwithin a datacenter, multiple datacenters, a peer network, etc. In someembodiments, one or more of the described system components representsmany such components each performing some or all of the function forwhich the component is described. In some embodiments, the componentscan be physical or virtual devices.

Example system 800 includes at least one processing unit (CPU orprocessor) 810 and connection 805 that couples various system componentsincluding system memory 815, such as read only memory (ROM) and randomaccess memory (RAM) to processor 810. Computing system 800 can include acache of high-speed memory connected directly with, in close proximityto, or integrated as part of processor 810.

Processor 810 can include any general purpose processor and a hardwareservice or software service, such as services 832, 834, and 836 storedin storage device 830, configured to control processor 810 as well as aspecial-purpose processor where software instructions are incorporatedinto the actual processor design. Processor 810 may essentially be acompletely self-contained computing system, containing multiple cores orprocessors, a bus, memory controller, cache, etc. A multi-core processormay be symmetric or asymmetric.

To enable user interaction, computing system 800 includes an inputdevice 845, which can represent any number of input mechanisms, such asa microphone for speech, a touch-sensitive screen for gesture orgraphical input, keyboard, mouse, motion input, speech, etc. Computingsystem 800 can also include output device 835, which can be one or moreof a number of output mechanisms known to those of skill in the art. Insome instances, multimodal systems can enable a user to provide multipletypes of input/output to communicate with computing system 800.Computing system 800 can include communications interface 840, which cangenerally govern and manage the user input and system output. There isno restriction on operating on any particular hardware arrangement andtherefore the basic features here may easily be substituted for improvedhardware or firmware arrangements as they are developed.

Storage device 830 can be a non-volatile memory device and can be a harddisk or other types of computer readable media which can store data thatare accessible by a computer, such as magnetic cassettes, flash memorycards, solid state memory devices, digital versatile disks, cartridges,random access memories (RAMs), read only memory (ROM), and/or somecombination of these devices.

The storage device 830 can include software services, servers, services,etc., that when the code that defines such software is executed by theprocessor 810, it causes the system to perform a function. In someembodiments, a hardware service that performs a particular function caninclude the software component stored in a computer-readable medium inconnection with the necessary hardware components, such as processor810, connection 805, output device 835, etc., to carry out the function.

For clarity of explanation, in some instances the present technology maybe presented as including individual functional blocks includingfunctional blocks comprising devices, device components, steps orroutines in a method embodied in software, or combinations of hardwareand software.

Any of the steps, operations, functions, or processes described hereinmay be performed or implemented by a combination of hardware andsoftware services or services, alone or in combination with otherdevices. In some embodiments, a service can be software that resides inmemory of a client device and/or one or more servers of a contentmanagement system and perform one or more functions when a processorexecutes the software associated with the service. In some embodiments,a service is a program, or a collection of programs that carry out aspecific function. In some embodiments, a service can be considered aserver. The memory can be a non-transitory computer-readable medium.

In some embodiments the computer-readable storage devices, mediums, andmemories can include a cable or wireless signal containing a bit streamand the like. However, when mentioned, non-transitory computer-readablestorage media expressly exclude media such as energy, carrier signals,electromagnetic waves, and signals per se.

Methods according to the above-described examples can be implementedusing computer-executable instructions that are stored or otherwiseavailable from computer readable media. Such instructions can comprise,for example, instructions and data which cause or otherwise configure ageneral purpose computer, special purpose computer, or special purposeprocessing device to perform a certain function or group of functions.Portions of computer resources used can be accessible over a network.The computer executable instructions may be, for example, binaries,intermediate format instructions such as assembly language, firmware, orsource code. Examples of computer-readable media that may be used tostore instructions, information used, and/or information created duringmethods according to described examples include magnetic or opticaldisks, solid state memory devices, flash memory, USB devices providedwith non-volatile memory, networked storage devices, and so on.

Devices implementing methods according to these disclosures can comprisehardware, firmware and/or software, and can take any of a variety ofform factors. Typical examples of such form factors include servers,laptops, smart phones, small form factor personal computers, personaldigital assistants, and so on. Functionality described herein also canbe embodied in peripherals or add-in cards. Such functionality can alsobe implemented on a circuit board among different chips or differentprocesses executing in a single device, by way of further example.

The instructions, media for conveying such instructions, computingresources for executing them, and other structures for supporting suchcomputing resources are means for providing the functions described inthese disclosures.

Although a variety of examples and other information was used to explainaspects within the scope of the appended claims, no limitation of theclaims should be implied based on particular features or arrangements insuch examples, as one of ordinary skill would be able to use theseexamples to derive a wide variety of implementations. Further andalthough some subject matter may have been described in languagespecific to examples of structural features and/or method steps, it isto be understood that the subject matter defined in the appended claimsis not necessarily limited to these described features or acts. Forexample, such functionality can be distributed differently or performedin components other than those identified herein. Rather, the describedfeatures and steps are disclosed as examples of components of systemsand methods within the scope of the appended claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A system for enforcing a workflow command on aclient device in an environment where at least a portion of a sharedcontent item is synchronized among the client device, a contentmanagement system server, and a second client device, and where the atleast a portion of a shared content item is stored on the client device,content management system, and the second client device, the systemcomprising: the client device including at least one processor, anoperating system, a storage, and a content management system clientapplication, wherein the at least a portion of a shared content item isstored in the storage of the client device, wherein the contentmanagement system client application includes instructions effective tocause the at least one processor to: receive a synchronizationcommunication from the content management system server pertaining tothe shared content item, the synchronization communication including aworkflow command and a user account identifier having write privileges;and determine that the user account identifier does not match a useridentifier for a user account logged into the content management systemclient application on the client device; and in response to determiningthat the user account identifier does not match, change accesspermissions for the shared content item on the client device to readonly.
 2. The system of claim 1, wherein the synchronizationcommunication includes an expiration of the workflow command, theinstructions effective to cause the at least one processor to: store theexpiration of the workflow command in metadata associated with theshared content item.
 3. The system of claim 2, wherein the instructionsare effective to cause the at least one processor to: determine that theshared content item with read only access permissions has been opened;display an interactive notification window displaying the useridentifier having write privileges, and displaying the expiration of theworkflow command.
 4. The system of claim 3, wherein the interactivenotification window includes a messaging interface, wherein theinstructions are effective to cause the at least one processor to:receive a message from the user of the client device to the useridentifier having write privileges; and transmit the message to thecontent management system server for delivery to the user identifierhaving write privileges.
 5. The system of claim 3, wherein theinteractive notification window includes a notification option, whereinselection of the notification option by the user of the client devicesets a notification trigger to notify the user account when the useridentifier having write privileges closes the shared content item. 6.The system of claim 1, wherein the workflow command and the user accountidentifier having write privileges are included in metadata attributesfor the shared content item.
 7. The system of claim 1, wherein theinstruction to change the access permissions for the shared content itemon the client device include instructions to set a lock in a file systemof the client device.
 8. The system of claim 1, wherein the clientdevice has at least a portion of another shared content item stored inthe storage of the client device, the instructions are effective tocause the at least one processor to: receive a synchronizationcommunication from the content management system server, thesynchronization communication including a workflow command and a useraccount identifier having write privileges; and determine that the useraccount identifier matches the user identifier for a user account loggedinto the content management system client application on the clientdevice; and change an appearance of an icon representing the sharedcontent item to indicate that the content item is checked out by theuser account associated with the client device.
 9. A non-transitorycomputer readable medium comprising instructions stored thereon, theinstructions effective to cause a computing system to: receive anotification that a shared content item has been checked out by a firstuser account of a content management system logged into a first clientdevice, wherein a copy of the shared content item is stored in a storageof the first client device, and a copy of the shared content item isstored in a storage of another device accessible by at least one seconduser account of the content management system, the shared content itembeing shared between the first user account and the at least one seconduser account, the shared content item being synchronized between thefirst client device and the another device by the content managementsystem; record a checkout status by the first user account having writeprivileges in a log; and transmit a synchronization notification to aplurality of client devices associated with the at least one second useraccount, the synchronization notification including the checkout statusby the first user account stored in the log, wherein in response to thesynchronization notification, the plurality of client devices associatedwith the at least one second user account lock the shared content item.10. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 9, wherein theinstructions are effective to cause the computing system to: receive anotification that the shared content item has been checked-in by thefirst user account; record a checked-in status by the first user accountin the log; transmit a synchronization notification to the plurality ofclient devices associated with the at least one second user account, thesynchronization notification including the checked-in status by thefirst user account stored in the log, wherein the plurality of clientdevices associated with the at least one second user account un-lock theshared content item.
 11. The non-transitory computer readable medium ofclaim 9, wherein the instructions are effective to cause the computingsystem to: receive a synchronization notification from a second clientdevice associated with the at least one second user account for whichthe shared content item is locked, the synchronization notificationincluding changes to the shared content item; and reject the changes tothe shared content item.
 12. The non-transitory computer readable mediumof claim 11, wherein the instructions are effective to cause thecomputing system to: create a copy of the shared content item and sendthe copy of the shared content item to the second client device; andsend a synchronization notification to the second client deviceincluding a version the shared content item prior to the changes to theshared content item.
 13. A computer-implemented method comprising:receiving a synchronization communication from a content managementsystem server pertaining to a shared content item including a workflowcommand and a user account identifier having write privileges, whereinat least a portion of the shared content item is stored in a storage ofa client device and wherein a synchronized copy of the at least aportion of the shared content item is stored on the content managementsystem server and stored on a second client device, and wherein the atleast a portion of the shared content item is synchronized among theclient device, the content management system server, and the secondclient device; and determining that the user account identifier does notmatch a user identifier for a user account logged into a contentmanagement system application on the client device; and changing, inresponse to determining that the user account identifier does not match,access permissions for the shared content item on the client device toread only.
 14. The computer-implemented method of claim 13, wherein thesynchronization communication includes an expiration of the workflowcommand, the method comprising: storing the expiration of the workflowcommand in metadata associated with the shared content item.
 15. Thecomputer-implemented method of claim 14 comprising: determining that theshared content item with read only access permissions has been opened;displaying an interactive notification window containing the useridentifier having write privileges, and the expiration of the workflowcommand.
 16. The computer-implemented method of claim 15, wherein theinteractive notification window includes a messaging interface, themethod comprising: receiving a message from the user of the clientdevice to the user identifier having write privileges; and transmittingthe message to the content management system server for delivery to theuser identifier having write privileges.
 17. The computer-implementedmethod of claim 15, wherein the interactive notification window includesa notification option, wherein selection of the notification option bythe user of the client device sets a notification trigger to notify theuser account when the user identifier having write privileges closes thecontent item.
 18. The computer-implemented method of claim 13, whereinthe workflow command and the user account identifier having writeprivileges are included in metadata attributes for the shared contentitem.
 19. The computer-implemented method of claim 13, wherein changingthe access permissions for the shared content item on the client deviceincludes setting a lock in a file system of the client device.
 20. Thecomputer-implemented method of claim 13, wherein the client device hasat least a portion of another shared content item stored in the storageof the client device, the method comprising: receiving a synchronizationcommunication from the content management system server, thesynchronization communication including a workflow command and a useraccount identifier having write privileges; and determining that theuser account identifier matches the user identifier for a user accountlogged into the content management system application on the clientdevice; and changing an appearance of an icon representing the sharedcontent item to indicate that the content item is checked out by theuser account associated with the client device.